Refrigerator



April 24, 1945- N. ERLAN AF KLEEN 2,374,185

A REFRIGERATOR I FiledNov. 13. 1941 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 AH HHH. I

April 24, 1.945 l ERLAND AF KLEEN 2,374,185

REFRIGERATOR 4 SheetsSheet 2 Filed Nov, 13, 1941 QVENTORL e Wm 2 if @fw yApril 24, 1945- N. ERLAND AF KLEEN, 2,374,185

REFRIGERATOR Filed No?. 13, 1941 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 A TTO/P/Vfy N. ERLAND AF KLEEN REFRIGERATOR Filed Nov. 13, 1941 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 INVENTOVR. @f/662@ @QM/we 14 TTOR/Vhr-Y E, WIJK/Zalm `ing refrigerant-to the cooling means Patented Apr. 24, 1945 cuir-Eo s'iarsl PATENT orrlcr.

BEFRIGEMTOB Application November l s claims.

v This invention relates to new and useful improvements in refrigerators and more particularly to the storage compartment thereof and the cooling means therefor and has for its primary object to provide an inwardly extending portion in at least one of the insulated walls of the storage compartment to accommodate the refrigerant storing means of the refrigeration apparatus to ow liquid refrigerant to the cooling means. f

Another object of the invention is to provide the storage compartment of a refrigerator with an auxiliary storage space formed by the inner lining or shell of the cabinet, which auxiliary space is of less depththan the main compartment, whereby a recess is provided in back of the auxiliary storage space forthe accommodation of the liquid refrigerant collecting tanks supplyinside the storage compartment.

A further object of the invention is to provide a refrigerator with dinerent storage zones of respectively different temperatures, in which zones the temperature is controlled at all times, and

in certain or all of which zones a relatively high humidity is maintained by the intermittent defrosting of the coolingl means.l

With the above and other objects in view which will appear as the description proceeds, the invention resides in the novel features hereinafter. more clearly set forth in the following description, illustrated by way of example-in. the accompanying drawings and more particularly pointed out in the appended claims.

Referring to the drawings, in which numerals of like character designate similar parts throughout the several views- Fig'. 1 is a view in front elevation of a refrigerator cabinet with the door removed to show the storage compartment thereof and one form of cooling means therefor; A

Fig. 2 is a vertical sectional view through the center of the refrigerator cabinet-of Fig. l, but

with the door in place and in closed position and showing the parts of the refrigerating apparatus in the back of thecabinet in side elevation looking from the right hand side of Fig. 1; n

Fig. 3 is a vertical sectional view through the cabinet taken on line '3-3 of Fig. 2; l

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary view in front elevation similar to Fig. 1, but wherein the upper storage space in the-storage compartment is cooled by upwardly extending cooling partment cooling means;

rig. 5 is ssectionai view taken on une s-s o: as

iins from the main com.. r

Stockholm, Sweden, as

frigerator, Ine., Hoboken, a corporation of Delaware Fig. 6 is a'sectional view similar to Fig. 5, but in which vthe upper storage space is separated 5 from the main storage compartment and is cooled by separate cooling means from the same refrigerating apparatus:

Fig. '3 is an exploded detail perspective view of the inner lining for the storage compartment of 1o the cabinet shown in Figs. 1 to 5;

Fig. 8 is an elevational view similar to Fig. 4, but showing a modified form of cooling means for the several storage zones, andV Fig. 9 is a sectional view taken on line 8 9 o Fig. 8 and .showing the door in place and in closed position.

In the drawings, referring more particularlyto Figs, 1, 2 and 3, the refrigerator cabinet illustrated consists generally o f an outside shell I 0 having an opening in' the front wall thereof for access to a storage compartment C formed by an inner shell I I open at its front end and provided with an opening l2 in the rear wall thereof adapted to be closed by a removable section I3 in the layer of insulation Il surrounding the storage compartment. The insulated storage compartment C is spaced inwardly from the outer shell I0 to provide a storage bin I5 cabinet and a vertical chamber I6 in theb'ack of the cabinet for the refrigerating apparatus.

In order to facilitate installation of the refrig- `erating apparatus in the cabinet and removal therefrom, the rear wall Ill' of the outer shell I0 is formed as a separate wall of the shell and is removably secured to the latter by any suitable means such asl bolts rews, and the like (not shown).

As clearly shown in inner shell il is provi portion adiacent its depth of the uppe partment C to form storage of certain ent storage condi compartment C.

the door in place and in closed posided with an inwardly bent upper end, reducing the portion of the storage coman auxiliary space .I1 for the a diertion than in the main storage The openfront end of the inner -shen Il nadaptedtebe exedbyaninsulated door i8 which cooperates with a sealing gasket I9,l shown in Fig. l on the front wall of the outer shell 'I0 but which may be secured to the inner .face of the door', to seal the main e compartment C and the auxiliary storage space l'l from the influenceof outside temperawres.

Referring to Fig. 7, the inner shell Il ismade up of two separate parts, designated as A and B, the former consisting of a strip of in the bottom of the Fig. 2, the rearwali of the metal or the like suitably bent to form a. horizontal wall a which constitutes the bottom wall ci the compartment C, and two vertical side walls b which make up the side walls of the compartment C and auxiliary storage space i1, while part B also consists of a strip of sheet metal suitably bent to provide a horizontal top wall c for the auxiliary storage space l1, a rear wall d therefor, and a horizontal wall e and a vertical rear wall f for the storage compartment C. Each of the side walls b of part A has a cutout portion adjacent its upper end to accommodate the right angular bent portion forming walls d and e in part B of the inner shell. Parts A and B may be secured together by any suitable means such as by welding their adjoining edges along a continuous line following the contour of part B.

The refrgerating apparatus employed to cool the cabinet consists of two intermittent absorption units arranged side by side in the apparatus chamber I6, but operable in alternate phase relation to each other to produce substantially continuous cold in the evaporator unit E. Inasmuch as the units are similar to one another, only the various parts of the unit shown at the left hand side in Fig. s win be described in deem ,by refshift the operation of vthe units from generating to absorbing and vice versa.

The apparatus chamber I6 is open at the top and bottom, and the primary and secondary condensers are so arranged with respect to each other in said chamber that each is cooled by a separate stream of air, as more fully described in my copending application, Ser. No. 405,57 5, iiied August 6, 1941, covering Absorption refrigerating apparatus.

The operation of the refrigerating apparatus just described is believed obvious without further description, it being `clear that when the boilerabsorber of one of the units is heated, for example, boiler-absorber 20, for the generating period of the left hand unit shown in'Flg. 3, the boilerabsorber is cooled by the secondary cooling erence characters, the corresponding parts of the other unit being distinguished by the prime of the numeral.

As clearly shown in this figure, each unit includes an insulated boiler-absorber 20, of wellknown construction, mounted in the lower portion of the apparatus chamber I6 and adapted to be heated for the generating periods by any suitable means such asV a gas burner 2| or the like. The refrigerant vapors generated during the heating periods pass upwardly through conduit 22 to an air-cooled condenser 23 arranged in the upper part of the chamber I6 and the condensed refrigerant flows to a collecting tank 24 embedded in the insulation Il and disposed in the recess formed by the bent portion of the rear wall of the inner shell I I (Fig. 2). From the collecting tank, the refrigerant flows through separate cooling coils 25 and 26 connected at one end to the bottom ofthe tank and extending into the compartment C through the opening l2 in the rear wall of the inner shell il (Fig. 2), said coils being connected at their other end to the-upper portion of the collecting tank. ACooling coil 25 is in thermal contact with one side of an ice-tray compartment 21 while cooling coil 26 is spaced from the compartment 21 and from coll 25 and is provided with cooling ns 28 for cooling the air in the storage compartment C.

For the. absorbing period of operation of the unit, the burner 2| is shut 01T and the boilerabsorber 2li is cooled by any suitable means and the refrigerant evaporating in the coils 25 and 26 returns to the boiler-absorber 20. As an example of suitable cooling means for the boilerabsorber 20, I have shown asecondary cooling system for a secondary cooling medium," said system being formed by a plln'ality of interconnected elements including a boiler-absorber iacket- 30, secondary condenser generally indicated as 3l, and a collecting tank 32.

vThe circulation of the secondary cooling rne-v dium through the secondary system otthe respective boiler-absorber jackets 3l and 3l' is selectively controlled by the usual thermostat device illustrated diagrammatically in Figs. 2 and 3 and indicated as Il, which device also selectively controls the operation o! the burners 2l and 2 I'v in a well known manner to thereby automatically medium circulating through the secondary cooling system, for the absorption period of the right hand unit. During the alternate operation of the units, a substantially unchanged low temperature is maintained in the ice-tray compartment 21 by the cooling coils 25 and 25' in thermal contact with the walls thereof, while the nned cooling coils 26 and 26' employed for cooling the lstorage compartment C alternately assume relatively high and relatively low temperatures in aiternation, as more fully set forth in my co-pending application, Ser. No. 293,477, led September 5, 1930, now Patent #2,319,806. Consequently, each of the finned cooling coils 26 and 26' will become coated with frost intermittently and will be aiternately defrosted. during the absorption and generating periods, respectively, of the corresponding units so that `a relatively highV humidity will be maintained in the storage compartment. The condensate formed on the nned cooling coils 26 and 26 as a result of the automatic defrosting during each cycle of operation of the units will drip into a collecting pan or tray 34 supported on one of the shelves 35, which tray may be removed and emptied whenever necessary.

Since the air cooled bythe cooling coils of the evaporator unit E will descend in the main storage .compartment C, the coolest temperature in the cabinet (about +4 C.) will be in the bottom of said compartment.

Between the bottom of the evaporator unit E and thelowest temperature zone, the temperature in the storage compartment will be approximately between 4 C. and 6 C. The temperature on opposite sides of the evaporator unit E will be between 6 C. and 8 C., while the highest temperature in the cabinet (between 8 C. and 12 C.) will be maintained in the auxiliary storage space mestibles without vthe use of closed receptacles such as hydrators and the like heretofore re- -'quired for storing foodstuffs in an atmosphere of high humidity. Furthermore, since the cooling coils 26 and 26 employed to cool down the cabinet are separate from those utilized for the ice-freezing compartment 21 of the evaporator unit, the temperatures inthe diilerent zones will not be affected to any material degree by 'any changes in the ice-freezing compartment 21, that is, the cabinet temperature will not be relatively unit. a dry cold will be v i1 for the reason that at the low ,l v temperature maintained in said space, vmined cooling coils will not be automatically d rested.l Consequently the auxiliary storage space of the higher when water is placed in trays thanwhen iceis present therein. In other words, there is Provided by the present invention, a refrigerator having .different vcabinet temperatures that are controlled and in which arelatively high humidity is maintained during the operation ofthe refrigerating apparatus without the .use of timing mechanisms, or means for controlling the ilow of air in contact with the cooling surfaces, or other auxiliary devices to periodically defrost the cooling means. l

- If it is desired to have a slightly lower temperature in the auxiliary storage space I1 than that aordecl by the cooling means of Figs. 1 to 3,

an arrangement such as shown in Figs. 4 and 5` may be provided in `which auxiliary ns 38 and 38' suitably secured to the cooling fins 2l and 28', respectively, project upwardly into the stor v age space I1 to cool the latter.

In certain instances, it maybe desired to maintain in the auxiliary space I1 a very low temperature below that existing inthe low temperature zone of the main storage compartment C. In this event, the arrangement shown in Fig. 6 may be provided in which the storage space I1 `.is separated from the main storage compartment C by a horizontal partition 40. In this form of the invention, each unit of the refrigerating apparatus has a collecting tank' 4I delivering liquid refrigerant to a finned cooling coil 42 for cooling the 'auxiliary space I1, whichtank and cooling coil are separate from the collecting tank and cooling coils heretofore described-in connection with Figs. l. izo-5 for the main storage compartment C. In Fig. 6, the collecting tanks and cooling coils of only one of the units are 4shown,'but ity will be the auxiliary storage space as described in connection with Fig. 6, each unit of the refrigerating apparatus may be provided with only one main coil but having separate cooling portions to suit different temperature conditions. For example,

. as shown in Figs. 8 and 9, each unit has a main cooling coil 4l extending downwardly from the lower portion of the collecting tank 24 and inwardly into the main compartment C `below the 1 ice-freezing compartment 21 of the evaporator unit, said main coil having a returning portion extending upwardly and terminating adjacent the upper portion of the'collecting tank 24. Cooling ilns 40 may be provided on the main coil 45 to form cooling surfaces for the air in the'main storage compartment C. A branch coil 41, connected at one end to the downwardly extending portion of the main coil 45 adjacent the lower end of the latter.- has a cooling portion 48 in thermal contact with the wall structure otthe ice-freezing compartment 21, and a separate cooling portion 49 provided with cooling stance, is 4shown as a modification in that instead of being formed by a right angular bent portion in the wall of the inner shell il, the rear wall of the auxiliary storage space I1a is formed by a 45 angle bend in the rear `wall ofthe inner shell so thatsaid storage space 4gradually increases in depth from the top thereof to the upper portion of the main storage compartment C. Obviously. thev auxiliary space L1 or I1a may have any other suitable shape depending upon the particular shape of the inner shell I I.

understood from the previous description that the alternately operating unit is provided with similar collecting tanks and cooling coilsfor the main storage compartment C and the auxiliary cooling coil 42 of one unit is separate from the corresponding coil of the alternately'operating produced inthe auxiliary storage space embodiment shown' in Fig. o may be iuxiployed to store foodstuffs at temperatures considerably below freezing, and in order to reduce the innuence of the outside room temperature upon the aux# iliary storage space I1 in the event the door Il of the cabinet is opened for access'ohly to the main storage compartment C, the front open end 1 of the auxiliary storage spacev may be close'dlby the like of glass o'r any other sliding doors 43 o r suitable material. v l v v Instead of having a plurality of-separate cool- I -ing coils. one for the ice-freezing vcompartment and another for the main' storage compartment of thecabinet and for the auxiliary storage 811Mo as heretofore in connection with Flan. l. toor havingltill another coolingcoil for greatly simplified; that no hydrators or other receptacles are necessary to' keep the stored food- As in the previously described constructions, the rear wall of the inner shell Il is provided with a suitably shaped opening I2a adapted to be closed by a removable section Ila in the insulation I4 to enable the cooling means of the refrigerating place and removed apparatus to be inserted in from the cabinet.

It willbe seen that withlthe form ofcooling relatively low temper- C.) is maintained in thev auxiliary storage space Ila due to the large cooi ing surfaces afforded by. the ilns 50 and 50' on means Just described, a ature (about 4 C. tov6 the cooling portions and 49', respectively, of the alternately operating units. Moreover, since the aforementioned cooling surfaces'are separate from one another andthe nned coils 45 .and

45' are also separatefrom one another, they willbe intermittently defrosted during the operation of the refrigerating apparatus to provide a relatively high humidity in thev diierenttemperaturel -zones of' the cabinet.

From the above description of the dinorent -forms illustrated, it will be noted that bythe present invention, the constructionof a refriglcrater. for the storagel of a wide variety of foods stus requiring diilerent storage conditions, is

stuffs in an atmospherel ofrelatively high humidticular construction of the --with` an inwardly bentlportion'in the rear wail provided in the back lof the" accommodation of the collecting f Y ity, and -that -the temperatures in the different parte or zones-of the storage space are always controlled.

It win also be observed that due to the parthebreof, a recess is ca inet for the vessels or tanksfcr the ,now of liquid .refrigerant to. the'cooling means.A

Prom s fins 50 for cooling thel air in the auxiliary space Ila which, in this ininner shellI I. that 1S.

theroreoing it is con-I and prenant invenf.

. tions .arranged in indirect thermal in the art without further description, it being `tion may be readily understood by those skilled i members on the second cooling section of each borne-in mind that numerous changes maybe made in the details disclosed without departing from the spirit of the invention as set out in the following claims.

What I claim is: 1. A refrigerator comprising a cabinet' having thermally insulated top, bottom, rear and side walls forming a food storage compartment having an opening, a door closing said opening, said rear wall having an inwardly extending bent portion adjacent its upper end reducing the depth of the upper portion of said compartment and providing a recess at the back thereof, a partition dividing said compartment into a main storage space of predetermined depth and an auxiliary storage space of reduced depth, refrigeration apparatus including .two separate cooling sections in said auxiliary storage space and cooling means .in the upper portion of said main storage space, said cooling means including two separate cooling sectransfer relation with respect to each other for cooling the air in said main storage space, and separate refrigerant storing means in said recess to iiow liquid refrigerant intermittently to one of each of said cooling sections in said auxiliary storage space and said main storage space, respectively, in phase relation to the other of each of said cooling sections in said auxiliary and Ymain storage spaces.

2. A refrigerator comprising a cabinet having thermally insulated top, bottom, rear and side walls forming a food storage compartment having an opening, a door closing said opening, said rear wall having an inwardly extending bent portion adjacent its upper end reducing the depth of the upper portion of said compartment and providing a recess at the back thereof, refrigeration apparatus including two separate cooling circuits in said compartment and refrigerant storing means in said recess to flow liquid refrigerant in termittently to said circuits in phase relation to each other, each of said circuits having a iirst and a second cooling section for the series flow of the refrigerant, an ice-freezing chamber having heat-conducting walls thermally connecting the first cooling section of each of said circuits, finned of said circuits extending partly into the -upper reduced portion of said compartment and forming cooling surfaces for the air circulating in thermal transfer relation thereto, and separate branch conduits in uid communication with each of said cooling circuits, respectively, each of said branch conduits having a cooling section arranged below said ice-freezing chamber to form separate cooling surfaces for the air in said compartment.

3. A refrigerator comprising a cabinet having thermally insulated top, bottom, rear and side walls forming a food storage compartment having an opening, al door closing said opening, said rear wall having an inwardly extending right angular bent portion adjacent its upper end providing an auxiliary storage space in the upper portion of said compartment of reduced Adepth and providing a corresponding recess in the back of said compartment, a horizontal partition wall across the bottom of said auxiliary storage space dividing said storage compartment into a. main chamber of predetermined depth and an auxiliary chamber of reduced depth, means cooperating with said rear insulated 'wall to provide a flue space at the back of said storage compartment in open communication with room air, absorption type refrigeration apparatus including at least two intermittent units operating in phase relation to each other, each unit having a cooling section arranged to cool the air in said auxiliary chamber, a separate cooling section arranged to cool the air in said main chamber, refrigerant condensing means in theupper portion of said iiue space, refrigerant generating means in the lower portion of said ilue space connected to supply refrigerant vapor to said condensing means, and refrigerant storing means in said recess to ow liquid refrigerant intermittently to each of said cooling sections, whereby each of said chambers is cooled substantially continuously, the cooling sections in said main chamber being spaced from one another, whereby each of said cooling sections is coated with frost during its cold producing periods and is alternately defrosted to maintain a relatively high humidity in said main chamber.

Nits ERLAND Ap KLEEN. 

